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Wild-eye right drags down iconic American Girl dolls
Capital Times ^ | 11-12-05 | Joel McNally

Posted on 11/13/2005 4:42:14 PM PST by SJackson

It turns out that when suburban mothers buy American Girl dolls that look and dress exactly like their own little girls, they may unwittingly be purchasing tiny, lesbian partners for their children....

It turns out that when suburban mothers buy American Girl dolls that look and dress exactly like their own little girls, they may unwittingly be purchasing tiny, lesbian partners for their children.

At least, that is the fear of the wacko, right-wing watchdogs who keep track of exotic threats to our children that most of us are too naive - or not nearly psychologically twisted enough - to recognize.

Up until now, we thought the growing success of the Wisconsin-based American Girl doll company was one of those wholesome, positive, all-American stories.

Who could possibly find fault with a roaringly successful commercial venture that encourages young girls to dress in the same designer outfits as their look-alike dolls?

The company founded 20 years ago in Middleton by Pleasant Rowland was sold to Mattel Inc. in 1998 for $700 million. The company has upscale doll stores in Chicago, New York and Los Angeles with expensive clothing boutiques, hair salons and high fashion events for dolls and children alike.

Obviously, any little girl who buys deeply into the American Girl mystique - emphasis on "buy" - is well on her way to dressing for success in life. At the very least, she has a shot at becoming a particularly well-tailored trophy wife.

The commercialization of childhood is a serious social issue that could be the subject of thoughtful public debate. Or we could just listen to the ignorant blatherings of right-wing extremists.

Guess which has gotten American Girl into hot water? You got it. It's the complaints of the American Family Association and the Pro-Life Action League.

The American Family Association, based in Tupelo, Miss., the birthplace of Elvis Presley, has a long history of seeing threats to our children that most people are far too intelligent to notice.

The American Family Association was among the few organizations to perceive that preschool children were being brainwashed into pursuing a life of homosexuality by a sexually ambiguous Teletubby named Tinky Winky.

The organization once protested an episode of "Rocky and Bullwinkle" in which Bullwinkle the Moose married Cinderella. You might think the American Family Association would rejoice at such a high-profile celebrity endorsement of traditional marriage.

But those vigilant protectors of conservative morality recognized the Bullwinkle-Cinderella liaison for what it was - a subtle endorsement of inter-species relations promoting sex with animals.

So what could be so objectionable about American Girl dolls to attract protests from the American Family Association and, even more curiously, the Pro-Life Action League? The last we knew no embryos were destroyed producing American Girl dolls, which are not actually alive, just perky.

It turns out purchasing American Girl dolls helps promote concepts these groups find offensive. You know, objectionable concepts such as living healthy lives and being tolerant toward others.

The two groups have launched a crusade against American Girl for contributing philanthropically to Girls Inc., formerly the Girls Clubs of America, which for 140 years has organized programs encouraging young girls to feel good about themselves and strive for achievement.

This is where the charges about lesbianism come in. It seems that in educating adolescent girls about sexuality, Girls Inc. fails to teach young women to hate themselves or anyone else if they happen to be gay.

Almost as bad, in attempting to prevent teenage pregnancy, Girls Inc. reveals to girls that abstinence is not the only method of birth control. Since abstinence has been known to fail, it also acknowledges the existence of contraception and abortion.

No advocacy is involved. It's a simple matter of providing an honest education in the basics of good health for adolescent girls.

American Girl dolls aren't proselytizing innocent young girls into lesbianism or teenage whoredom. That's just standard laughable exaggeration from wild-eyed goofballs on the right.

But when the president of the United States lends legitimacy to the wild-eyed right on issues such as teaching religious beliefs as science in our schools, pretty soon other institutions in our society start taking seriously other ridiculous right-wing ideas.

St. Luke Catholic School in Brookfield recently canceled an American Girl fashion show that was expected to raise from $10,000 to $30,000 for the school.

Apparently, these regional fashion shows, which send personal invitations to more than 20,000 American Girl doll owners over a wide area, are killer fundraisers.

Brookfield, in Waukesha County, could well be the state's most seething hotbed of both American Girl dolls and the religious right. Those well-dressed, fresh-faced dolls never had a chance.

Father Frank Malloy, the pastor of St. Luke school, said in canceling the American Girl event: "The cost is too high. Our integrity isn't for sale."

Anyone gullible enough to believe that an American Girl doll is a threat to public morality doesn't need to be bought. He's already been Bullwinkled.


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Editorial
KEYWORDS: americangirl; dolls; filth; girlsinc; lesbianism; megabarfalert; morfordite; perversion; projournalism
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To: SJackson
There they go again ...

"At least, that is the fear of the wacko, right-wing watchdogs who keep track of exotic threats to our children that most of us are too naive - or not nearly psychologically twisted enough - to recognize. "

EXTREME VILLIFCATION because folks aren't willing to to toss money to a company that supports homosexuality and has NO regard for human life. Yaawwwwnnnn. Is this the BEST they can do? WHERE is THEIR tolerance for people who do NOT want to raise relative kids and don't wish to fund killing human life?


Ooops. I forgot. People who disagree are not allowed to disagree with the RADICAL left under any circumstances. I say DON'T BUY THESE DOLLS! Put your money where your mouth is and stand firm of good values.
41 posted on 11/13/2005 5:25:47 PM PST by nmh (Intelligent people believe in Intelligent Design (God).)
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To: SJackson

http://www.visionforum.com/beautifulgirlhood/ is the doll collection to buy. Give them a banner year and the boot to American Girl Dolls.


42 posted on 11/13/2005 5:29:25 PM PST by nmh (Intelligent people believe in Intelligent Design (God).)
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To: timsbella

:)


43 posted on 11/13/2005 5:29:28 PM PST by clee1 (We use 43 muscles to frown, 17 to smile, and 2 to pull a trigger. I'm lazy and I'm tired of smiling.)
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To: SJackson; EdReform; backhoe; Yehuda; Clint N. Suhks; saradippity; stage left; Yakboy; ...

Homosexual Agenda Ping.

Just a little humor. Interesting example of lunatic leftist flying spittle ranting, good for a laugh.

And, just the for the record: the guy who either produced or invented "a sexually ambiguous Teletubby named Tinky Winky" was actually a homosexual and did indeed have the plan of introducing "gender bending" cartoon characters to kids to soften them up towards homosexuality.

Freepmail me and DirtyHarryY2K if you want on/off this pinglist.


44 posted on 11/13/2005 5:29:41 PM PST by little jeremiah
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To: SJackson
Shouldn't it be wild-eyed right?

LOL. His editor/s didn't catch that, either.

45 posted on 11/13/2005 5:30:50 PM PST by mewzilla (Property must be secured or liberty cannot exist. John Adams)
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To: Valpal1
The way I figure it, I ought to walk the talk. So, if I am serious about the things I believe, to the extent I have any control over it, I'm not going to spend my money on a company who supports morally objectionable stuff. How else should I behave?

I grew up learning games to play with dirt and sticks, since my mom only had that to play with growing up, and boy, was I thankful for the one or two toys we got at Christmas. So, save me the trouble of being pressured to spend 100's of $$$ on a doll and accessories.

This article is manipulative and dishonest. It's like those "pro-choice" folks who really are pro-abortion. Choosing TO reproduce is an anathema to them. So, if I CHOOSE to reproduce, don't I have a responsbility to raise the products of conception? Yet, here they are, stepping in to tell me I'm an idiot if I don't throw money at a company supporting the opposite of my beliefs?

46 posted on 11/13/2005 5:30:54 PM PST by elk
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To: SJackson
Succinctly sums it up:

Father Frank Malloy, the pastor of St. Luke school, said in canceling the American Girl event: "The cost is too high. Our integrity isn't for sale."
47 posted on 11/13/2005 5:32:42 PM PST by nmh (Intelligent people believe in Intelligent Design (God).)
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To: ladiesview61

The company pushes moral relativism in the form of promoting abortion, contraception for teenagers and lesbianism. A lot of conservatives don't want to support companies that spend money, time and energy promoting such leftist social agendas. Especially if there's also a chance their kids will come into contact - in this case, via websites connected with the American Girl products - with the abortion and lesbian promoting propaganda.

Isn't that pretty clear to you?


48 posted on 11/13/2005 5:34:01 PM PST by little jeremiah
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To: little jeremiah; SJackson
Since abstinence has been known to fail, it also acknowledges the existence of contraception and abortion.

Give me one example of abstinence failing.

49 posted on 11/13/2005 5:35:42 PM PST by wagglebee ("We are ready for the greatest achievements in the history of freedom." -- President Bush, 1/20/05)
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To: somemoreequalthanothers
Since abstinence has been known to fail,

Huh??

I'ver got it. It goers like this:

Mom: Clatice, the doctor says your pregnant?? How did this happen?"

Clarice: "I don't know mommy, I did what you said and never ever let a little boy put his winkie in wiggle-world!"

Mom: That's not possible, Clarice!"

Clarice: "But Timmy, and Susan, and Joey came over one afternoon with a turkey baster, then... Well anyway, then we had some Kiante from the "medicine" cabinet and some fava beans..."

50 posted on 11/13/2005 5:35:56 PM PST by lafroste (gravity is not a force. See my profile to read my novel absolutely free (I know, beyond shameless))
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To: madnsad
It's a rhetorical thing I suppose, but if one chooses not to abstain, then abstinence is no longer being practiced. Therefore it has not failed. It can not fail, logically.
51 posted on 11/13/2005 5:36:29 PM PST by somemoreequalthanothers (All for the betterment of "the state", comrade)
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To: brivette

"What crap."

No it isn't. It's a Commie plot to corrupt our precious bodily fluids.

By the way the GI Joe action figure turned me into a homo and ruined my life.


52 posted on 11/13/2005 5:37:08 PM PST by beaver fever
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To: Rightwing Conspiratr1

Rape is not any part of abstinence. Rape is one form of lack of abstinence- forced lack.


53 posted on 11/13/2005 5:37:39 PM PST by arthurus (Better to fight them over THERE than over HERE.)
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To: Alouette; Knitting A Conundrum

Knitting - check out Alouette's idea. Maybe your Vast Right Wing Craft circle would be interested in this...


54 posted on 11/13/2005 5:39:58 PM PST by little jeremiah
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To: ladiesview61

http://www.girlsinc.org/ic/content/sexualityresourcesgirls.pdf
http://www.girlsinc.org/ic/content/lesbianbisexualgirls.pdf

American Girl is sponsoring Girls Inc. (used to be Girl's
Clubs) which is promoting this sort of thing:
(from the resources section of their website)



"The Shared Heart: Portraits and Stories Celebrating Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual Young People" by A. Mastoon (1997)
'The Shared Heart brings a human face and a dignified voice to the experiences of lesbian, gay and bisexual young people.' This book works to bread down stereotypes and introduces people of all sexual orientations to forty brave, honest people who have face adolescence as a lesbian, gay or bisexual teenager.


This is aimed toward young girls, and THIS is what people are protesting about, not the dolls themselves, just that the AG company is endorsing this sort of thing by endorsing Girl's Inc.

There's more like this at the websites I listed.


55 posted on 11/13/2005 5:40:07 PM PST by pillut48 (CJ in TX)
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To: wagglebee
Give me one example of abstinence failing.

Maybe he was thinking of rape, though for an abortion advocate it would be smarter to use term. The column is mostly anger, light on facts. Maybe he had a early deadline.

56 posted on 11/13/2005 5:41:09 PM PST by SJackson (People have learned from Gaza that resistance succeeds, not smart negotiators., Hassem Darwish)
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To: SJackson
Just keep them away from Bratz dolls!


57 posted on 11/13/2005 5:41:13 PM PST by operation clinton cleanup
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To: Melas

Finally, someone that understands that teenagers are people and do not have a fail-proof 'off' or 'on' button regarding the intensity of the 'moment' and who understands the fundamental, sinful nature of humans. Thank you.


58 posted on 11/13/2005 5:44:53 PM PST by doc30 (Democrats are to morals what and Etch-A-Sketch is to Art.)
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To: All

Abstinence fails... from their mouths to the devil's ears. Is not the agenda crystal clear?

Why don't they just make them anatomically correct so they can have sex and get abortions... complete with the cut up little arms and legs; Maybe even a boy that has to pay child support or mini-food stamps and a school to drop out of if your particular doll comes with a whole baby?

If Girl's Inc. was concerned about girl's well being and health, they wouldn't be pushing an agenda that lowers their self-esteem and puts girls in dangerous situations.

They're not around when their 'teachings' (which should come from parents anyway), are acted upon and the fallout that comes because of it... I can't see the self-esteem anywhere in that. Let's see statistics on the outcome of their 'help'.

I don't know about all of you... but I have seen everything from nip and tucks to emergency room operations on television; Why don't they show abortions? It's no big deal right?


59 posted on 11/13/2005 5:45:16 PM PST by AliVeritas (Weldon Ops, Earle Fatwa Team, Pork Jihadi, MOOSEMUSS, Stick Brigade, Go Steele)
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To: SJackson
The issue isn't the dolls, rather the philanthropic/co-marketing arrangement

So because Microsoft provides same-sex benefits and promotes the same to other companies, I should protest by not buying or using anything sold by Microsoft? So I should quite my job because my employer mandates the use of MS Word and Excel and is, indirectly, supporting gay rights with which I disagree with?

60 posted on 11/13/2005 5:49:13 PM PST by doc30 (Democrats are to morals what and Etch-A-Sketch is to Art.)
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